The present invention relates to a method of infusing edible fruits and vegetables with an agent, and more specifically to a method of infusing edible fresh and freshly-cut fruits and vegetables with a quality enhancer, a nutritional supplement, a pharmaceutical agent, any other agent beneficial to humans or animals and/or combinations thereof.
Prior to and during the harvesting process both fresh fruits and vegetables are highly metabolically active as they complete the ripening or maturation process. For example, ripening of climactic fruits such as apples, peaches and tomatoes proceeds according to a genetically defined developmental process that results in the production of numerous hydrolytic and catabolic enzymes. Essentially, these multiple enzyme systems degrade precursors in the immature fruit such as polysaccharides to their components that are present in the ripened fruit such as sugars. The natural developmental endpoint of the maturation process is an over ripened fruit that is prone to microbial attack and rot. To avoid over ripeness, microbial attack and rot and to maintain fruit and vegetable quality, the horticultural industry has developed methodologies and techniques for storage and preservation of fresh fruits and vegetables. These methods include refrigeration and modified atmosphere manipulations that retard or delay respiration and the ripening process and inhibit or slow the natural activity of hydrolytic and catabolic enzymes. These manipulations also include the application of agents such as Ca++, fungicides and coatings that retard microbial attack.
Thus, it is known in the art to immerse some foods in liquids to help preserve the food. For example, liquids containing Ca++ have been introduced under pressure into the skin of apples to prevent microbial degradation of the apples and the subsequent rotting thereof, thus extending shelf life. Other types of preservative liquids have also been used. However, today""s consumer is leery of food additives. The word xe2x80x9cpreservativesxe2x80x9d has a generally negative connotation and products that market as xe2x80x9call naturalxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cno preservatives addedxe2x80x9d have enjoyed a great deal of success in the marketplace.
Moreover, due to the nature of preservatives, such as in the Ca++ example, it is desirable to infuse the fruit or vegetable with such preservatives immediately after harvesting to inhibit post harvest decay and microbial infection. However, it has been discovered that if nutritional, flavoring and pharmaceutical agents directed towards human benefit are applied during this directly post harvest time period (i.e., when metabolism is still active), such beneficial products may be hydrolyzed or otherwise degraded, or converted into other materials by enzymes present in the fruit or vegetable.
Past efforts to improve and enhance the taste of foods have often dealt with efforts to increase the sweetness of a food product. It is known to immerse processed vegetables in a sweetened liquid to increase the sugar content and hence enhance their taste. Of course some foods such as canned fruits are often packed in a syrup or other sweetening liquid. The modern trend, however, among consumers is to avoid the heavy syrups associated with such processed fruits, as a perception exists among consumers that it is healthier to consume fresh fruits and vegetables.
Moreover, millions of dollars are spent each year by consumers on vitamin and mineral supplements, and the benefits of vitamins in the diet are extolled from many different sources today, including a significant number of physicians. Physicians have traditionally downplayed the role of vitamin supplements and until fairly recently have instructed patients that they should be able to get all the vitamins and nutrients they need from the foods they eat. The United States government has even become involved in the process by releasing the xe2x80x9cfood pyramidxe2x80x9d to help Americans eat a more healthy and nutritious diet.
Furthermore, while the market for healthful foods is on the rise, consumers also spend vast sums of money each year on pharmaceutical products, both prescription as well as over-the-counter medications. Medication is often taken in pill form because of the unpleasant taste of the medication. This is particularly a problem when a young child needs to take medications. Often the medicine is suspended in a liquid base to mask the flavor and to make it more palatable.
It would therefore be desirable for people to get the nutritional supplements they want and need by eating the fresh foods they already enjoy without requiring them to take a separate supplement.
Additionally, it would also be desirable to be able to take a medication by consuming a food that is already enjoyed without the need to mask the medication in a pill or liquid form.
The present invention is directed to a method for infusing fresh fruits and/or vegetables with an agent or agents including one or more of the following: vitamins, minerals, flavor enhancers, sweeteners, coloring agents, pharmaceuticals and/or substantially any other substance beneficial to humans or other animals which is capable of being infused for supplementing the characteristics and properties of the food.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method by which fresh fruits and vegetables are infused with vitamin and or mineral supplements to nutritionally enhance the food""s natural properties.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method by which fresh fruits or vegetables are infused with flavor enhancers to improve the taste, texture, color or other desirable properties of the food.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of infusing fresh fruits and vegetables with pharmaceutical agents to allow persons to receive a medically effective dose of a desired pharmaceutical.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of infusing fresh fruits and vegetables with an agent that is not metabolized by the fruit or vegetable.
In accordance with the objects of the invention it is possible to infuse a fruit or vegetable with a substance which allows for the performance of an assay to determine or assess possible microbial contamination.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by the provision of a method of infusing an edible fresh or freshly-cut fruit or vegetable. First, the fruit or vegetable is allowed to reach a state of relative metabolic stasis or inactivity, as described hereinbelow, before the outside surface of the fruit or vegetable is disinfected. Next, an infusion bath comprising an agent to be infused and a surfactant is provided, and the fruit or vegetable is submerged therein. Finally, the infusion bath is pressurized to a pressure for a time period. The pressure may be a positive pressure or a negative pressure (i.e., a partial vacuum) as described more fully below.
Preferably, the surface of the fruit or vegetable is disinfected with a bleach solution and/or an antimicrobial soap solution. More preferably, the solution has a concentration in the range of about 0.01% to about 10%, and most preferably, the solution has a concentration of about 2%.
The agent to be infused is preferably a quality enhancing agent, a nutritionally beneficial agent, a pharmaceutical agent, or combinations of these. Most preferably, the quality enhancing agent may be an aroma enhancing agent, a flavoring enhancing agent, a sweetening agent, a color enhancing agent, or combinations of these, the nutritionally beneficial agent may be a vitamin, a mineral, an anti-oxidant, a phytochemical, or combinations of these, and the pharmaceutical agent may be a prescription drug, an over-the-counter drug, or combinations of these.
Preferably the surfactant is polysorbate 20, or an organosilicone surfactant. More preferably, the surfactant has a concentration in the range of about 0.0001% to about 1%, and most preferably the surfactant has a concentration of about 0.001%.
The infusion bath is pressurized to a pressure in the range of about 1 kPa to about 1000 kPa. Preferably, the infusion bath is pressurized to a pressure in the range of about 10 kPa to about 100 kPa, with the most preferable range being about 20 kPa to about 40 kPa. A pressure of about 30 kPa has generally been found to provide optimal results. The infusion bath is pressurized for a time period in the range of about 0.1 minutes to about 60 minutes. It is preferable that the infusion bath is pressurized for a time period in the range of about 1 minute to about 30 minutes, with the most preferred range being about 5 minutes to about 15 minutes. A time period of about 10 minutes has been found to provide optimal results. The pressure may be a positive pressure or a negative pressure (i.e., a partial vacuum) as described more fully below, although a positive pressure is preferred.
It is also preferable that the fruit or vegetable be rinsed with water after the disinfecting step and after the pressurizing step.
The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention.
It has been discovered that when edible fresh or fresh-cut (i.e., lightly processed) fruits and vegetables which are in a state of relative metabolic stasis or inactivity are submerged in a solution of a quality enhancing agent (i.e. agents which improve aroma, flavoring, sweetening and/or coloring), while subjecting the food to a transitory pressure regime, the food becomes infused with the desired agent, and the quality of the food is therefore enhanced. As discussed above, while it has been known to infuse some foods with preservatives, such as Ca++, by immersing them under pressure in liquids containing the preservative, the use of preservatives is undesirable. Moreover, as discussed more fully below, simply immersing a food in a liquid under pressure may not result in an optimum amount of the agent being infused.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the nutritional, flavoring and pharmaceutical agents directed towards human benefit and applied as described in this application are contemplated to be delivered at the end of the storage process (i.e. during a period of relative metabolic stasis or inactivity of the fruit or vegetable) so that they are not metabolized by the hydrolytic and catabolic enzymes present in the actively ripening and maturing fruit. Post storage application of beneficial agents to fresh fruits and vegetables results in more defined, controlled and undegraded amounts of these materials in the final consumed food product.
It should be noted that what is meant by xe2x80x9cmetabolic stasis or inactivityxe2x80x9d as used herein is that the hydrolytic and catabolic enzymes present in the actively ripening and maturing fruit have reached a point where they have been substantially minimized.
It has also been discovered that using a similar infusion method, a fresh fruit or vegetable can act as the delivery vehicle for agents beneficial to the person consuming the food (as opposed to being beneficial to the food product itself), making fresh fruits and vegetables even more attractive to consumers. For example, a fresh fruit or vegetable can be infused with nutritional agents such as vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants or phytochemicals, thus allowing the fruit or vegetable to be the delivery mechanism for these nutritional agents. Of course, the above listed nutritional agents are merely examples and it should be understood that substantially any nutritional agent which can be suspended in a liquid could be infused into a fresh fruit or vegetable according to the present invention. Preferably, the liquid is primarily aqueous, although such is not strictly required.
It has further been discovered that using a similar infusion method, a fresh fruit or vegetable can be infused with a pharmaceutical agent, thereby allowing a person to receive a biologically effective dose thereof. For example, pharmaceutical or biological agents such as aspirin would be released into the digestive system along with the fresh fruit or vegetable. Numerous other pharmaceutical agents, both prescription and over-the-counter, may be infused according to the present invention so long as the agent is capable of being suspended in an aqueous liquid without damaging its pharmaceutical properties.
It should be noted that the term xe2x80x9cagentxe2x80x9d used throughout this application refers to a single agent or a combined group of agents (i.e. a flavor enhancer and a vitamin could both be present in the immersion liquid and together they would be termed an xe2x80x9cagentxe2x80x9d). It should also be understood that the agent is efficaciously maintained by being infused within the food item itself, and a person consuming the food processed according to the present invention obtains the benefit of the fresh fruit or vegetable, as well as the additional benefit of the infused agent.
It should also be noted that although the detailed description refers to an infusion bath in which the specimen is submerged, it is also possible to coat the specimen with an infusion spray, and then to pressurize the coated specimen. Thus, when the term xe2x80x9cinfusionxe2x80x9d is used herein, it is meant to encompass infusion baths, infusion sprays, and any other mechanism by which an agent to be infused may be introduced into the outer surface of the fruit or vegetable to be infused.
The pressure may be a positive pressure or a negative pressure (i.e., a partial vacuum). If a negative pressure is to be employed, the fruit or vegetable is coated with the infusion while the negative pressure is applied. After coating, the negative pressure is released, and atmospheric pressure is restored (or positive pressure is applied). Testing has revealed, however, that while negative pressures may be employed, positive pressures are preferred